Declaration  of 
Conf  Pam  #534 


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DECLARATION  OF  THE  CAUSES  WHICH  JUSTI- 
FY fllE  SECESSION  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 
FROM  THE  FEDERAL  UNION. 


tSratc  of  South  Carolina  having  determined  to  re- 
mlo^tw^ujjjarate  and  equal^place  among  nations,  deems  it 

due  to  herself^biithe  remaining  United  States  of  America, 

if. 

ami  to  the  nations  ofcthe world,  thai  she  sin. nit]  declare  the 
causes  which  have  led  to  this  act. 

In  the  year  1765,  that  portion  of  the  British  Empire 
embracing  Great  Britain,  undertook  to  make  Laws  for  the 
g«vernmen1  of  that  portion  composed  of  the  thirteen 
American  Colonies.  A  struggle  for  the  right  of  self-g 
ornmentVmsm'd,  which  resulted,  on  the  4th  July,  177<i.  in 
a  [declaration^  by  the  Colonies,  "that  they  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  FREE  AND  [NDEPENDENT  STATES; 
and  that,  as  free  and  independent  States,  they  have  full 
power  to  levy  war.  eoncludd  peace,  contract  alliance.-,  estab- 
lish commerce,  and  to  do  ajj  other  acts  and  things  which  in- 
dependent States  may  of  rjghl  do." 

They  further  solemnly  declared  that  whenever  any  "  form 
of  government  becomes  destructive  of  the  ends  for  which 
it  was  established,  it  is  Mr  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  it.  and  to  institute  a  new  government."  Deeming 
the  GovernmeTfctfof  Great  Britain  to  have  become  destruc- 
tive of  these  ends*' they  declared  that  the  Colonies  "are 
absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that 
all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of  Great 
Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved." 

In  pursuance  of  flhis  Declaration  of  Independence,\each 


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of    tl 

I 
<•■!  ••!  tin  :»ll  its 

■ 

17"  - 

comn  known  I 

:.  in   t! 
h 
";iii<]  i  r,  jurisdiction  and  ri^rht  which 

"  this   ( '"iii-  deration,  d  to  tl:        uitjii 

"States  in  < 
Under  I  iration   I  volution 

ied  on,  ;iik1  on  the  3d  £ 
ended,  :m<l  :i  * 

in  which  mowledged  the  [nde] 

I. — I  li-  Britam  cknowledgcs  th< 

•■  United  Stat  I [ampshir*  Ba5 . 

"  Rhode   Island  :ni<l   Providence  Plan  tat  i  ticut, 

.    Pennsylvania,  I  '<   .. 
"land,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  < 

,-  [FDEPE 
-  :  thai    he  treats  with  them   as   Btich 
"himself,  his  heirs  and  relinquisl  [aims 

inn. 'Hi,  propriety  nii<l  territorial  of  the 

••  Bame  and  every  part  then 

Thus  v  blished   the  two  great  principlea 

by  the  Colonies,  namely:  the  rkhl   of  i 
itself:  and   the   ritrhi  «»!' ;i  pcoiijl  to  abolish  a  Government 
when  ii   b  destructive  of  the  ends  for  which  it  was 

instituted.     And  concurrent  with  the  establishment  of  t 
principles,  was  the  fact,  that  each  Colony  became  and  was 
nized   by  the  mother  Counl  I         St  »\  ER- 

BIGN   AM>  INDEPENDENT  STATE. 
In  1787,  D<  putiea  were  appointed  \>\  the  States  to  n 


the  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  on  17th  September, 
1787,  these  Deputies  recommended,  for  the  adoption  of  the 
States,  tin-  Articles  of  Union,  known  as  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

The  parties  to  whom  this  Constitution  was  submitted 
were  the  several  sovereign  States:  they  were  to  a^ree  or 
disagree,  and  when  nine  of  them  agreed,  the  compact  was 
to  take  effect  among  those  concurring;  and  the  General 
Government,  as  the  common  agent,  was  then  to  be  invest- 
ed witli  rHeir  authority. 

If  only  nine  of  the  thirteen  Slates  had  concurred,  the 
other  four  would  have  remained  as  they  then  were — separ- 
ate, sovereign  States,  independent  of  any  of  the  provi- 
sions of  the  Constitution.  In  faet.  two  of  the  States  did 
not  accede  to  the  Constitution  until  long  alter  it  had  gone 
into  operation  among  the  other  eleven  ;  and  during  that 
interval,  they  each  exercised  the  functions  of  an  independ- 
ent nation. 

By  tiiis  Constitution,  certain  duties  were  charged  on  the 
several  States,  and  the  exercise  of  certain  of  their  powers 
restrained,  which  necessarily  implied  their  continued  exist- 
ence as  sovereign  States.  But,  to  remove  all  doubt,  an 
amendment  was  added,  which  declared  that  the  powers  no1 
delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people.  On  23d  May,  1788,  South 
Carolina,  by  a  Convention  of  her  people,  passed  an  Ordi- 
nance assenting  to  this  Constitution,  and  afterwards  alter- 
ed her  own  Constitution,  to  conform  herself  to  the  obliga- 
tions she  had  undertaken. 

Thus  was  established,  by  compact  between  the  States,  a 
Government,  with  defined  objects  and  powers,  limited  to 
the  express  words  of  the  grant,  and  to  so  much  more  only 
as  was  necessary  to  execute  the  power  granted.  This  lim- 
itation left  the  whole  remaining  mass  of  power  subject  to 
the  clause  reserving  it  to  the  Stales  or  to  the  people,  and 
rendered  unnecessary  any  specification  of  reserved  rights. 

We  hold  that  the  Government  thus  established  is  sub- 


!;<•!<!     till 

tad ;  tin 

quen< 

In: 

.<■    dflii. 
iliil  their  constitutional  oblij 
lion-,  aii'l  d  >£ 

istitutiou  of  iIk-  United  Is  in  its  Itl 

pro> 
••  N  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  Stan,  ui 

i   im-»  another,  shall,  in 
"queuc<   of  any  law  or  regulation  therein, 
"from  Buch  service  « ■]■  labor,  but  shall  l»<-  delivered  up, 
"claim  «>l'  the  partj  to  whom  such  r  labor  maj 

tipul  ial   to  the  compact,  thai 

without  it  thai  compact  \\<'iil«l  not  have  been  math'.     The 
r  of  the  contracting  parties  held  and 

the  State  of  Virginia  had  previously  declared  her  estimi 
of  it-  value  by  making  it  tin-  condition  of  In 
the  territory  which   ao¥t   composes   the  States  north  of  the 
<  >hio  ri\  er. 
The  same  ;u*t  j<-l < *  of  the  Constitution  stipulates  also 
ilition   \>\    \\k-   several   >  ^itives   from  just 

from  th< 

teral  Government,  as  the  common  agent,  ]»i 
laws  i"  carry  into  effect  these  stipulations  of  th(    - 

uuted.     But  an  iucrei 
iug  hostility  "ii    the   pari   •  States  to  the 

Lnstitutiou  of  Slavery'  bas  led  t"  ;i  disre  I    i  ir  * > I ►  1  i - 


gations,  and  the  laws  of  the  General  Government  have 
ceased  to  effect  the  objects  of  the  Constitution.  The  States 
of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont.  Massachusetts,  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island,  New  York.  Pennsylvania,  Illinois, 
Indiana.  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  have  enact- 
ed laws  which  either  nullify  the  A.cts  of  Congress  or  render 
useless  any  attempt  to  execute  them.  In  many  of  these 
States  the  fugitive  is  discharged  from  the  service  or  labor 
claimed,  and  in  none  of  them  has  the  State  Government 
complied  •with  the  stipulation  made  in  the  Constitution, 
The  State  of  New  Jersey,  at  an  early  day.  passed  a  law 
for  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves  in  conformity  with  her 
constitutional  undertaking;  but  the  current  of  anti-slavery 
feeling  has  led  her  more  recently  to  enact  laws  which 
render  inoperative  the  remedies  provided  by  her  own  law 
and  by  the  laws  of  Congress.  Da  the  State  of  New  Fork 
even  the  right  of  transit  i'ov  a  .-lave  has  been  denied  by 
her  tribunals;  and  the  States  of  Ohio  and  Iowa  have  re- 
fused to  surrender  to  justice  fugitives  eharged  with  murder, 
and  with  inciting  servile  insurrection  in  the  State  of  A  ir- 
ginia.  Thus  the  constitutional  compact  has  been  delibe- 
rately broken  and  disregarded  by  the  non-slaveholding 
States,  and  the  consequence  follows  that  South  Carolina  i> 
released  from  its  obligation. 

The  ends  for  which  this  Constitution  was  framed  are 
declared  by  itself  to  he  "to  form  a  more  perfect  union, 
"establish  justice,  tnsuare  domestic  tranquility,  provide  for 
"th<  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
"secure  the  blessings  of  Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
"terity." 

These  ends  it  endeavored  to  accomplish  by  a  Federal 
Government,  in  which  each  State  was  recognized  as  an 
equal,  and  had  separate  control  over  its  own  institutions. 
The  right  of  property  in  slaves  was  recognized  by  giving 
to  free  persons  distinct  political  rights,  by  giving  them 
the  right  to  represent,  and  burthening  them  with  direct 
taxes  for  three-fifths  of   their  slaves;    by  authorizing  the 


inn 

1     ~ 

and     •  lits  <>t  j.r  d  in  ti 1 1 - 

/.<<|  Iiv  :        I  trillion 

dcnoui  infill  tlie  institution 

rmittcd  tin-  open  <  utablishmei 
whose  avow  i  i*  i"  disturb  iln-   ; 

property   of  tin-  citizens  of  <>i 

and   assisted  thousands  of  our 
their  homes;  and  those  who  remain,  have  been  incited  by 
emissaries,  books  and  pictures  t-.  Bervile  insurrection. 

twenty-five  years  this  agitation    has   b<  adily 

inen  until  it  has  now  secured  \>>  its  aid  tli<-  po 

the  ( lommon  Government.     Ob    rving  the  the 

l  tional  party  has  found  within  that  article 

blishing  th<  I h  e  I  department,  the  ab- 

verting  the  Constitution  itself.      \  aphical  line 

n  drawn  across  the  Union,  and  all  the  8 

thai  line  have  united  in  th<-  elect! f  :i  man  to  tin-  high 

office  <>r  President  of  the  CFnited  States  whose  opinions  and 
purposes  are  hostile  t<>  slavery.    1 1 » -  is  \<>  be  entrusted  with 
the  administration  of  the  Common  Government,  beca 
he  lias  declared  that  that  "Government  cannot  endure  i 
manently  half  Blave,  half  free,"  and  that  1 1  ■  *  -  public  mind 
mi;  the  belief  thai  Slavery  is  in  the  course  of  ulti- 

mate extinction. 

This  Bectional  combination  for  th<-  subversion  of  th*1 
Constitution,  has  been  aided  in  Borne  of  the  States  by  ele- 
vating i"  citizenship,  i  .  who,  by  the  Supreme  Law 
<>i'  the  land,  are  incapable  of  becoming  :  and  their 
voto  b een  used  to  inaugurate  a  new  policy,  h<»-tilr  to 
the  South,  and  destructive  <>f  its  peace  and  Bafety. 

<  )n  the  4th  March  next,  this  party  will  ti  ession  of 


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7 

the  Government.  It  has  announced,  that  the  South  shall 
•  be  excluded  from  the  common  Territory;  that  the  Judicial 
Tribunals  shall  be  made  sectional,  and  that  a  war  must  be 
waged  against  shivery  until  it  shall  cease  throughout  the 
United  States.  y 

The  Guaranties  of  the  ConstitutiojJ  will  th 
exist;  the   equal   rights   of  the   Sh/es  will 
slaveholding  States  wili  no  longer  have  the 
government,  or  Belf-protectionf  and  th 
ment  will  have  become  their  roemy 

Sectional   interest  and   animosity  ^^f  fleepen  the   irrita 
tion,  and  all  hope  of  remedy  is  reanrren  vain,  by  the  fact 
that  public  opinion  at  the  North  «as  invested  a  great  politi- 
cal error  with  the  sanctions  of  a  more  erroneous   religious 
belief. 

We,  therefore,  the  people  of  Soutll  Carolina,  byjmr  del- 
egates, in  Convention  assembled,  ap|»aling  to  thjnupreme 
Judge  of  the  world  tor  the  rectitude  of  out  intentions, 
have  solemnly  declared  that  the  Union  heretofore'  existing 
between  this  Slate  and  the  other  States  of^rorth  America, 
is  dissolved,  and  that  the  State  of  Soutil  Carolina  has  re- 
sumed her  position  among  tin'  rations  of  the  world,  as  a 
free,  sovereign  and  independent  State  ;  with  lull  power  to 
levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  com- 
merce, ad  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  independ 
ent^StaA  may  of  right  do. 

j\^ul,«ir  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a 
reliance  V>n  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we^Kutu 
ally  pk'dge  to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our 
saeredhonor. 


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PH  8.5 


